Widmer's attorney fights for a fourth trial

MIDDLETOWN, OH (FOX19) - It's now up to the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals to decide if Ryan Widmer, 31, should get another trial.

The last of two appeal hearings was conducted Tuesday morning in Middletown. At the hearing appellate attorney Michelle Berry's arguments centered around the case's lead detective, former Hamilton Township Lt. Jeff Braley.

"Ryan's constitutional rights allow him to present a defense to the jury that Braley's pattern for lying and his incompetence to hold the position of lead detective in a murder case, taints the entire investigation," said Berry.

"If you can rely on the lieutenant starting the process, you can't rely on anything from there forward," said Gary Widmer, Ryan's father. "It has a big snowball effect."

Berry also claims that Braley could have tampered with evidence while the bath tub was in his custody for three months.

"When Bill Hillard went to process the bathtub which had been sitting in the Hamilton Township Police Dept basement under Braley's control for three months, it was not in the same condition as when Danny Harness from the Miami Valley Crime Lab left it three months earlier," said Berry.

Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Greer argues there is no evidence to support any of the appellate's claims.

"There is no evidence, anything that gets us from Mr. Braley's alleged lack of credibility to the integrity of the investigation was breached," said Greer.

No decision on a fourth trial was made on Tuesday, and it could be several weeks or months before a decision is made.